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Published: August 6th 2007
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Back in the Land of Oz
We have been through quite a few airports at this point which comes as no surprise to you, I’m sure, given the number of flights we’ve been on. Airports have a way of being depressing, drab, noisy, and uncomfortable all at the same time. Only a few airports in my recent memory have been able to buck this trend and create a comfortable atmosphere in which to while away the time. Christchurch’s airport is one of the comfortable few that is worth copying. It’s too bad other airports don’t seem to care as much what travelers think.
After a few hours waiting on the comfortable couches in Christchurch’s airport, we boarded our Air New Zealand jet for Brisbane, Australia and the next leg of our journey. A little over three hours later we arrived in the much warmer center of coastal Australia. Within an hour or so, we had grabbed our bags, been through customs and had gotten into our rental car, once again a comfy Holden like the one we drove here last time.
Kel had booked us a room in the Sofitel in downtown Brisbane which is incredibly
well located in the middle of the city and is very nice. It’s price tag is a little steep but Kel got a good deal and sometimes it’s nice to have the extra amenities a hotel brings. We find this to be doubly true in busier cities.
Once fully settled we asked the hotel concierge about dinner. Being Mother’s Day (by the way Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms in our lives!!) we were concerned about getting into a restaurant. The rather befuddled concierge booked us a table at a nearby restaurant without getting our full consent. Next thing we know we have a 7:30pm reservation at an unknown restaurant. We don’t know the name, location, type of food, or type of dress for it but after a few questions we set off with directions and a name.
After a short walk down to the river side we found ourselves at a very fancy, very pricy restaurant right off the waterside. We were allowed in despite our dress (these situations always make us feel awkward because we don’t have nice dress with us) and ordered a full dinner. Kel and I giggled that we were celebrating
Mother’s Day even if our mothers weren’t around.
Dinner was amazing and very expensive compared to our usual expenditures on food. Kel got a Torres Strait lobster dish (very different than lobster at home) and I got seafood pasta. Add on to the meal a dessert, a bottle of wine and some salads and we had one of the more expensive meals of our trip. Nothing compared with dinner at the Burj al Arab in Dubai, but still very expensive. The learning here: ensure you know more about a restaurant before someone makes you a reservation!! Live and learn!
Walking by the Riverside We woke up on Monday knowing that we really needed to get out and see Brisbane as it was our only full day in the city. We have learned that cities are not the backbone of an Australia/New Zealand experience. In Europe. cities are your friend, they are full of history, sights and experiences but in Australia/New Zealand the true experiences are had outside of cities and closer to nature. Due to some of our longer and more boring city stays in places like Adelaide and Auckland we decided to cut our time
in Brisbane short. After our day in the city we were glad that we had given ourselves less time.
Brisbane is a beautiful city that is located close to the border of New South Wales and Queensland. Queensland is the more tropical and beachy part of Australia and due to the more tropical nature of the area, Brisbane is a warmer, and more natural city than some we’ve been through.
We spent most of our day walking through the city seeing the river, botanical gardens and a few of the major sights. With the drought, Brisbane isn’t as green as it once was but still sparks with the beauty of water, mangroves, and plant life. After walking around the river, seeing one of the city’s main beaches and perusing the botanical gardens we decided to do a little shopping for amenities.
We needed more books to read and were lucky to find a huge Borders bookstore located right in the heart of the downtown shopping district. As many of you know, Kel goes through books like some people go through paper towels. She can rip through a normal sized book in the span of a few days
which means that we needed to acquire enough to keep her hunger satiated. Despite my slower reading habits (about a book every 10 days) I too picked up a few books to keep me occupied for the remainder of our three weeks in Australia. Since our time in Queensland will consist of multiple days hanging out on beaches, books are a really good thing to have around.
After a few more stops to pick up some necessities we returned to our hotel for an afternoon siesta. We have really been spending a bunch of our time relaxing recently which probably has to do with us being on the road for so long. We no longer feel as pressured to fit tons of activities into every day which allows us to really soak up some comfort time. We spent an hour in the hotel’s hot tub and did some reading by the pool before dinner which was a glorious way to kill two hours in the late afternoon.
While we asked the concierge for help picking dinner restaurants, we were quick to point out that we were looking for inexpensive. This time the concierge was really helpful and gave
us ample examples of inexpensive cafes in the area from which to choose our destination. We finally settled on an Italian restaurant on Albert Street called Picasso’s. Kel got pasta and I ate a small pizza which satisfied both of our needs.
The rest of the evening consisted of watching Boston Legal ( a show we had never watched at home but have become addicted to on the road) and CSI:NY which is another on the road discovery. You gotta love how everyone in the world watches American TV.
Hope you are all doing well back home. Tomorrow we are taking a quick jaunt south so that Kel can get her amusement park fix on the Gold Coast! Should be fun!
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